Keeping the Council and the Airport honest, or will Tangaroa have the last word anyway?

Over the last couple of months two important developments occurred regarding the proposed Wellington Airport Runway Extension: Its $90m co-funding by Council found its way into the LTP – despite significant opposition against it, but with some very important caveats Nature has shown us on several occasions just how insane the proposal is to putContinueContinue reading “Keeping the Council and the Airport honest, or will Tangaroa have the last word anyway?”

Helene Ritchie: Runaway rates for vanity projects (Opinion)

“Wellington City Council’s rates hike at 6.1% is too high. Priorities are skewed in the wrong direction towards vanity projects for political expediency,  and disproportionate “growth-economic” funds and projects.  The result: cuts and deliberately delayed spending on essential infrastructure  eg. to prevent flooding  around the Basin Reserve and Medical Centre) or to strengthen the Capital’sContinueContinue reading “Helene Ritchie: Runaway rates for vanity projects (Opinion)”

The Register: What will the Wellington airport runway extension do for business owners?

Advocates are touting the Wellington Airport extension as a plan that will bring in millions of dollars of economic benefits for the region. However, it also has its detractors – the Board of Airline Representatives New Zealand (BARNZ) has cast doubt on these claims. Can retailers expect more sales if this comes to fruition? TheContinueContinue reading “The Register: What will the Wellington airport runway extension do for business owners?”

Moa Point Road closed again by big waves

Moa Point road flooding at the weekend. Twitter photo from Lyall Bay/Blaize Larsen-Beecroft Wellington.Scoop Wellington Airport warned this morning that the Moa Point road was closed again because of big swells. It had been reopened for less than 24 hours after similar problems over the weekend. Wellington.Scoop – June 15 Wellington Airport advised that theContinueContinue reading “Moa Point Road closed again by big waves”

That Airport Extension: More optimism bias, less facts and is the extension enough for long-haul planes to land?

A corporate finance partner at Deloitte writes in the Dominion Post this week a rhetorical question to which they clearly think they know the answer. “Should Wellington consider an extension to its runway?” What is interesting about this is that the opinion shows further optimism bias coupled with some facts that are incorrect and theContinueContinue reading “That Airport Extension: More optimism bias, less facts and is the extension enough for long-haul planes to land?”

Whoops: Should the Mayor and Deputy Mayor be able to vote on any future Airport Extension Proposal?

Yesterday’s brief blog has broken all records at Strathmore Park, peaking at nearly two thousand views an hour it has had thousands of you reading. Some of you have pointed out to me what you think is a breach of Council rules, particularly by the Deputy Mayor, and asked if both he, and the Mayor,ContinueContinue reading “Whoops: Should the Mayor and Deputy Mayor be able to vote on any future Airport Extension Proposal?”

Why Air New Zealand and other Airlines will never use a longer Wellington runway

So far missed by the local media an interview this morning was a Radio NZ piece talking to the CEO of Air New Zealand. While Air New Zealand didn’t explicitly rule out flying long haul routes from here, the evidence was absolutely damning. One thing is for sure, you could build an airport extension asContinueContinue reading “Why Air New Zealand and other Airlines will never use a longer Wellington runway”

Salient: VUWSA and Uni weigh in on Council’s plans

VUWSA and the University have made submissions to the Wellington City Council’s recently drafted Long Term Plan for 2015 to 2025. The Long Term Plan looks at the current and future needs of Wellingtonians and sets out how the Council plans to improve the city and what it will spend. VUWSA’s submission pointed out thatContinueContinue reading “Salient: VUWSA and Uni weigh in on Council’s plans”

Dominion Post LTP report-back

In the third day of hearings into Wellington City Council’s draft Long-Term Plan on Thursday, Cricket New Zealand chief executive David White said lights were a necessity to be able to target overseas audiences. The Basin Reserve Trust and Cricket Wellington are supporting a $20 million masterplan that would upgrade the historic ground, including knockingContinueContinue reading “Dominion Post LTP report-back”

Wellington Airport extension increasingly coming undone: Fool’s Gold

With the long term plan submission underway this week, the oral ones, we start to see the airport extension starting to increasingly come undone. The consultation to date has been, in my opinion, a sham, typical of the arrogance of the uninformed and money men (and women) who try to sell us this snake oil.ContinueContinue reading “Wellington Airport extension increasingly coming undone: Fool’s Gold”